curl/docs/RELEASE-PROCEDURE.md

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Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.

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curl release procedure - how to do a release
============================================

in the source code repo
-----------------------

- do a *regular build* with a sensible build config to make sure the
  `src/tool_hugehelp.c` file etc is correctly generated

- edit `RELEASE-NOTES` to be accurate

- update `docs/THANKS`

- make sure all relevant changes are committed on the master branch

- tag the git repo in this style: `git tag -a curl-7_34_0`. -a annotates the
  tag and we use underscores instead of dots in the version number. Make sure
  the tag is GPG signed (using -s).

- run `./maketgz 7.34.0` to build the release tarballs. It is important that
  you run this on a machine with the correct set of autotools etc installed as
  this is what is shipped and used by most users on \*nix like systems.

- push the git commits and the new tag

- GPG sign the 4 tarballs as `maketgz` suggests

- upload the 8 resulting files to the primary download directory

in the curl-www repo
--------------------

- edit `Makefile` (version number and date),

- edit `_newslog.html` (announce the new release) and

- edit `_changes.html` (insert changes+bugfixes from RELEASE-NOTES)

- commit all local changes

- tag the repo with the same name as used for the source repo.

- make sure all relevant changes are committed and pushed on the master branch

  (the website then updates its contents automatically)

on GitHub
---------

- edit the newly made release tag so that it is listed as the latest release

inform
------

- send an email to curl-users, curl-announce and curl-library. Insert the
  RELEASE-NOTES into the mail.

celebrate
---------

- suitable beverage intake is encouraged for the festivities

curl release scheduling
=======================

Release Cycle
-------------

We normally do releases every 8 weeks on Wednesdays. If important problems
arise, we can insert releases outside the schedule or we can move the release
date.

Each 8 week (56 days) release cycle is divided into three distinct periods:

- During the first 10 calendar days after a release, we are in "cool down". We
  do not merge features but only bug-fixes. If a regression is reported, we
  might do a follow-up patch release.

- During the following 3 weeks (21 days) there is a feature window: we allow
  new features and changes to curl and libcurl. If we accept any such changes,
  we bump the minor number used for the next release.

- During the next 25 days we are in feature freeze. We do not merge any
  features or changes, and we only focus on fixing bugs and polishing things
  to make the pending release a solid one.

If a future release date happens to end up on a "bad date", like in the middle
of common public holidays or when the lead release manager is unavailable, the
release date can be moved forwards or backwards a full week. This is then
advertised well in advance.

Critical problems
-----------------

We can break the release cycle and do a patch release at any point if a
critical enough problem is reported. There is no exact definition of how to
assess such criticality, but if an issue is highly disturbing or has a
security impact on a large enough share of the user population it might
qualify.

If you think an issue qualifies, bring it to the curl-library mailing list and
push for it.

Coming dates
------------

Based on the description above, here are some planned release dates (at the
time of this writing):

- May 22, 2024
- July 17, 2024
- September 11, 2024
- November 6, 2024
- January 8, 2025
- March 5, 2025
- April 30, 2025
- June 25, 2025